Jerusalem: Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is mulling to buy Indian automobile major Mahindra and Mahindra’s utility vehicle — Scorpio, media reports said Tuesday.

The IDF is testing Scorpio, the first off-road vehicle produced by the leading Indian automobile manufacturer, which is a fairly modern vehicle with a turbo diesel engine that was developed in Europe and complies to updated EU standards, business daily Globes reported.

Scorpio has a manual gearbox but the model to be sold in Israel will have an automatic gearbox manufactured by General Motors Company, which is still under development, the daily said.

Mahindra and Mahindra’s flagship utility vehicle, which already had made its mark in some European countries, had main advantage of its price.

“The model that will be sold in Israel will cost only $7,000,” the report said.

The Elul Group Ltd, Mahindra’s defence division in Israel — which does not import vehicles, will reportedly arrange regular imports and will seek a franchisee from local vehicle market to sell the car.

If Mahindra decides to market the Scorpio in Israel, it will be the cheapest diesel automatic off-road vehicle in the Israeli market, the report said.